Rebellion
by Penguin-Major Nora
Summary: Irkens add a gene that causes emotions to one select gene pool.. New chapter, and I'm almost done with 8!
1. Prologue

Rebellion   
Prologue 

A/N: This is the prologue to something that happens much later.. the title will make sense in later chapters. Thanks for reading it over, Shadow! 

Disclaimer: I own not the charecters or the words, just the order I put them in. 

-+Zim+- 

Finally, I had the DNA I had gotten from Dib on my computer. It had taken me forever to pinpoint what caused this weakness, these "emotions". The "emotions", however, make humans more able to communicate with each other, though it does make them suffer mentally, and make them weaker. WEAKER! I have pinpointed this weakness, and sent the code for that particular DNA strand to the Almighty Tallests. 

When I mentioned it to Almighty Tallest Red last time, he found it interesting. He wanted the information, I don't know what for. Could other races have this weakness, would this help other invaders? I hope so, if I could do something that would really accomplish a lot, my fame would be made! 

Fame, that is what I have been looking for, a chance to prove myself, a chance to.. a chance to.. make up for not being able to completely take over the planet yet. 

Taking over the planet, you see, is not first on my list of priorities anymore. With my superior technology, I can break these humans down. I can learn all about them, and their strengths I can send the DNA for to the Almighty Tallests, these will be added to the Irken gene pool. That would be quite an accomplishment, yes. Yes.. 

-+Purple+- 

"Incoming transition from.. Earth?" I heard the computer say. Red groaned. "Zim." we chorused. 

"Well, maybe he has that weird DNA thing." I said, and turned the screen on. 

"I have the emotion DNA!" The short Irken said. Red looked up. 

"Finally!" He said. "Can you send it?" 

"It's sending! MUAHAHAHAHA!" Zim said. I rolled my eyes. Red didn't notice, he awaited it to send. "Got it!" he said happilly. 

"I've got to go now, my conquest in Earth needs me!" I saw that little garbage-SIR running around in the background, it sounded like he broke something. The screen flickered and went off. 

"Red, what are you going to do with those?" I asked. 

"They are supposed to make interspecies communication better, I am going to get some of the scientists to try putting this in a group of Irkens and see if the function the same way, or better." 

"That's a great idea! Always better to perfect the gene pool!" 

"Yeah. I'll send this to the scientists, they'll start working on it.." 


	2. Rebellion

A/N: Thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed my, uh, stuff! *hands out frikken cookies* Reviews make me happy. 

-+10 years after the prologue..+- 

-+Kylon+- 

Disclaimer: I own the Four. I don't own Invader Zim, and I don't own the words, just the order I put them down on the page. 

"Welcome to life, Irken Soldier. Please report for duty." I still remembered those words. They were stored in the back of my mind forever. Duty.. killing more sentient life, no? Blowing up more planets for no reason? That wasn't what I wanted to do with my life, and that put me alone. 

Pby, Kezk, Mui, and me, Kylon, seem very strange to me. We're a lot different then other Irkens. You wouldn't notice it immediately, but if you look closely, we are. First of all, the four of us stick together all the time- earning the nickname the Four from all of our peers- and talk a lot. Other Irkens don't talk, they do exactly what they were programmed to do. They take over planets. They hurt things. 

I hate that. I hate that they have to hurt things. So do the rest of the Four. We've asked others what they thought of it, but they don't care. They don't feel pity for the races we conquer. Why is that? 

Mui hates these Irkens, these killers. She hates them- hates them hates them HATES THEM. They kill other species' for no good reason, that's why she does. I don't hate them because hate is too simple a solution for too complex a problem, but why she hates them is perfectly reasonable. 

Kezk has a plan. He's the smartest of us. He knows what we can do to stop the Irken Empire from getting any further, to stop our own race from killing all the others. He has a plan, and we're going to try it. It's a suicide mission, we've worked it all out, but it's either that, or becoming soldiers in the Irken Armada. 

What are we going to do? Kezk is incredibly smart, as I mentioned already, and he is in the top of his class in Invader School now. He's going to become an Invader. But he's not going to invade. 

See, he is going to make a request of the Tallests. He is going to tell the Tallests that he can take over a planet before the Armada comes if he lets his three friends, low-ranking soldiers, come with him, and if they get the correct equiptment. Well, I say they, I mean we. The plan went over well with us, so now all he needs to do is convince the Tallests. 

-+Kezk+- 

"My Tallests," I said, bowing deeply to them. "I know that I have been invited to participate in Impending Doom III." 

"Yes, Kezk." Purple loomed down on me. 

"Well, I have a special plan." My heart was racing. "The Four and I want to go together. I know it's different, but with three soldiers, I can take over any small planet." 

"Yes, that is a good idea. What do you think, Red?" 

"I think it's fine, but what equipment would you need?" 

"Um.." I hadn't planned for this. "Four Voot Runners and Sirs, plus weaponry. Lots of weaponry, individual lasers and sky-beams, I expect." 

"Sky-beams?" 

"W-w-what if the aliens try to retreat to the stars?" I stuttered. Red frowned. 

"Well, the planet we were going to assign you to is one that Irkens have gone to before, and failed." My eyes widened. They would be preparing for us? 

"Who has gone there before?" 

"Invader Zim. He's been banished to Foodcourtia again, don't worry. None of the natives ever noticed him to be an alien." 

"Would I be being... outcasted?" 

"No, of course not!! We didn't know this was a real, inhabited planet when we gave it to Zim. That was a mistake, and we want to correct it." 

"..Oh." I had no idea what to say. "Whe.. when would I be getting the equipment? When can we start?" I wanted as long as I could to plan the rebellion. 

"In a week we will have everything for the other invaders ready, we can probably give you yours then." 

"Perfect." I said, hoping my eyes didn't have that evil glint that Pby always said they had in them then. 

"Well, since we are superior to all other Irkens, we have work to be done. See you in a week!" Red said, shooing me out. 

"So far, so good," I muttered, leaving. 


	3. Human

-+3 Weeks Later+-

  


-+Mui+-

  


We've taken the base Zim used. It's a good place, though Kezk had to spend forever updating all the technological stuff.

  


We just found out yesterday that Zim actually did something worthwhile, he made it so you can change DNA in a living being. Apparently he used it to turn his enemy on this planet into bologna, a kind of earth-sausage. Sure, he used it for stupidity, but we used it to blend in.

  


See, we're humans now, and not just in the sense that we have emotions and Irkens don't. We are physically, inside and out, human. Cool, neh?

  


It's a lot different from before, much has changed in how we, as beings, work, since we became human. But a lot is the same.

  


Anyway, here we are. Getting ready to take on the Irken Armada. We're planning on waiting another few months before telling them we're ready for their fleet.

  


See, what we're trying to do is weaken the Irken Empire- Our species- so that they can't attack other species, and so that other species have defenses, and time to use them. We're hoping that another intelligent race will catch on and fight the Irkens. Hurt the Irkens, keep them in check.

  


We want to weaken, not destroy them.

  


We have no chance to destroy them.

  


They're much, much to strong for us.

  


We've basically set ourselves aside from them. The others of our species. Though we look the same, we think and act differently enough for us to be of a different species. The Four, that's what we call ourselves. We don't need to have a name that can apply to ones like us that will come after us, because there will never again be anyone like us. And we aren't claiming to be immortal and live forever as the Four.

  


All of us know that we probably won't survive the attack of the people that created us.

  


Pby, he never talks about it, and neither do I. Pby can act like nothing will ever happen, then we can pretend it never will. We need that. We need that act, we need that strength.

  


But I still here Kylon and Kezk talking about it, talking about how screwed we are, in hushed voices, sitting on those chairs in the "living room", in the middle of those long, dark earth-nights. Humans complain of light pollution, but there still is some darkness, not the non-existent nights of Irk. On Irk, there is no darkness.

  


The darkness scares me. Anyone can hide under it's blanket, yet exposes everyone to those hidden attackers. I hate that darkness.. Pby loves it, Pby likes to hide in it, Pby has a sense of adventure and likes it's unknown quality. I hate the unknown.

  


-+3 days later+-

  


-+Kylon+-

  


My first day to really pretend to be human! I had a jacket, and the correct human clothing and money. I was going to walk down the street to a malt shop.

  


We had it all rehearsed. I was to order a root beer float and sit at the counter to drink it, and talk to the human behind the counter.

  


I put my jacket on and went outside. It was fall on Earth, so the air was chilly, but not freezing. Humans are much more sensitive to temperature then Irkens, I noticed.

  


I came to the malt shop and walked in. Sitting down at the counter, I announced, "I want a root beer float!" A few people turned around to stare at me, but I didn't respond to them. I knew that it was just that they envied my jacket.

  


I looked around and saw a purple-haired woman eating pizza and watching a little girl play a shoot-'em-up video game (they had a quite a few of these games down at the other end of the malt shop. It was also a video arcade, I guessed.) She was writing things down on a small computer device that humans called a Pilot- it was a Palm Pilot a few years ago, but the name had been shortened to Pilot recently, obviously notes on the girl's game.

  


Something about the woman bothered me, but I couldn't tell what. Then it hit me- this was the sister of the human that kept hindering Zim's plans. Her brother might want to stop what we were doing, just because he was paranoid about aliens taking over the world. I watched the woman- Gaz, I remembered her name was- until my drink came.

  


Now, these drinks are very interesting. They have a pleasurable taste, but a different texture then anything we ate on Irk. Humans concentrated on texture of food a lot more then my people ever did.

  


Anyway, I enjoyed my root beer float. I talked to a girl who came in and sat next to me. She was kind. I liked her. These were the people we were going to save, these were the people who we were more like then our own species. 


	4. Assasin

-+One Month Later+-

  


-+Pby+-

  


The Armada came. They flew over Earth, ready to blow it up. It was a small force, of course, since Kezk said that he needed just a few extra ships to help him with the conquest. Kezk's so cool in this, so mild-tempered. He's good, real good.

  


The small force, that little Armada.

  


I shot it down.

  


It made me feel sick. But I did it anyway. I killed those soldiers, my own people.

  


"They're not your people, Pby. We're your people. Those are ruthless soldiers sent to destroy planets that don't need to be destroyed." Kylon told me. It helped, a little. Everything Kylon says to you usually helps you, of course. She's Kylon.

  


While I was thinking about this, my SIR screamed at me.

  


"Pby, an Irken Assasin ship is up there. It's gotta be going for you guys.. Astablish communications, yes or no?" I didn't answer right away, I went to the controls and tried to shoot it down. Human hands are so clumsy for this, I thought to myself, but I managed to get a missle up at them.. force field?

  


FORCE FIELD?

  


There was no such thing as a force field. They must have recently made them for those particular ships.

  


"FORCE FIELDS DON'T EXIST, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" I found myself screaming. Footsteps, the delicate, precise ones of Mui.

  


"Mui, they have a force field on their ships. We can't get missles through at them." I told her as soon as she walked into the control room.

  


"I told you from the start we couldn't do it, that we were screwed from the start.."

  


"Mui? This is a very bad time to give up."

  


"I know. You're right."

  


"Of course I am. I'm always right!" I grinned at her, and she smiled weakly. I could almost see the gears in her head looking for a sarcastic comment.

  


But the view of the assasin's ship cut off both of our thoughts. A image had come up on the screen.

  


"HAHAHAHA! I get a chance to come to EARTH once again, to kill you!" a half-insane voice said. I could swear I heard a high-pitched voice in the background, screaming something about walnuts, then "We're going to doom them! Yaaaaaay!"

  


"...Zim?"

  


"INVADER Zim!"

  


"YOU are supposed to assasinate us? With that shoddy SIR-that-isn't?" Mui laughed.

  


"GIR is just to advanced for you to comprehend."

  


"He's still falling for that?" I hissed in Mui's ear. She pretended not to notice.

  


"I have state-of-the-art weaponry and ships, Four." He knew what we called ourselves?

  


"Yeah. I noticed from the force field." I muttered.

  


"Can we see how advanced your ship is? We'd need you to take the force field down for a second.." Mui grinned at me, and Zim actually did it.

  


I aimed, I fired, and his Voot Cruiser spun down toward Earth. Both of us figured he was dead.


	5. Sacred

-+Two Days Later+-

  


-+Kezk+-

  


No one wondered if Zim was dead or not, you just can't take a fall like that from the sky in a Voot Cruiser and survive, we all knew that perfectly well. I was in for a surprise when I walked outside that morning.

  


It was the first snowstorm of the year, and I had boots on and a big jacket. I was going over to the store to get some hot coco mix for Mui and a box of chicken for our lunch. I didn't look like anything suspicious, just a 15-year-old boy getting some food from Wal-Mart.

  


As soon as I took a step out of my path, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. I screamed out, and another pain, this time in my neck.

  


Knives. Primitive human weapons, but affective. Zim must have lived after all. My god, I was still thinking? Shouldn't I be dead by now? I screamed out in pain again, and saw a flash of green skin beyond the neighbor's house.

  


-+Kylon+-

  


I heard the first scream and ran for the door, then the second. They must have either sent another assassin or Zim survived his Voot Cruiser's fall. I seriously doubted the first one, but I didn't really have time to think about that. KEZK!

  


"KEZK!" I yelled, and there he was, sitting in the now red snow. His neck was bleeding, and so was his stomach.

  


"MUI! Call 911!" I had read that in a human book. "PBY! Get out here!" I heard him running. I needled next to Kezk. "They'll save you, you'll be fine."

  


"I won't be. He killed me, Kylon."

  


"No, he didn't. He couldn't have."

  


Pby's footsteps, his panting breath. He gaped at Kezk, and I motioned to him to help me pick him up. We managed to carry Kezk inside and lay him out on the floor.

  


"It'll be fine, it's warmer in here," I murmured. Kezk didn't say anything.

  


I wanted to scream, I wanted to run after Zim and spread his Irken guts evenly on top of a slice of bread and feed it to my SIR unit.. but Kezk needed me. I had picked him up, and his head was in my lap. I ran my fingers through his hair, muttering, "You'll be all right, you'll be all right," more to assure myself then anything else.

  


Mui ran downstairs, and came into the room, panting, her cheeks flecked with tears. The somewhat sane part of me in the back of my mind said something about that being strange, because Mui never cried, but I didn't pay attention to it.

  


"The phone's not working. We're gonna have to do the healing ourselves." Kezk's eyes widened, then closed. Mui ran into the kitchen to get bandages.

  


"We can do fine on these," she said, in the same tone I had used telling Kezk he'd survive. I took one of the rolls of bandages and tried putting some on Kezk's stomach.

  


"Mui, get the DNA transmitter. He might do better as an Irken," I said. Mui stood still, but Pby ran off to get it.

  


"Kezk, Kezk.. say something, anything, Kezk, I love you, you can't die.." I choked. Pby padded in, holding a needle, and I moved over so he could get to Kezk. Pby poked him with it.

  


"This is the fastest changing DNA transmitter we had, Kylon, I hope it works."

  


"It better." I was kneeling next to Kezk, whispering things I didn't completely understand.

  


We all had stopped talking, and all we could hear was Kezk's gasping breaths, my near-silent whispering, and Mui's choking sobs. Pby had left, I had a feeling he was up in his room, praying.

  


-+Mui+-

  


My god, I was scared. Kylon looked like she was going crazy. Pby was the only one staying strong through this, and he had gone up to his room, hiding.

  


I was watching, of course, but I stayed away from Kylon and Kezk. I don't know why, but they seemed to have some kind of connection, something I didn't want to break. Kylon was sitting there with Kezk in her arms, whispering. They were covered in tears and blood, but Kylon didn't care.

  


My brain started randomly searching for something that would definitely save Kezk, but I couldn't come up with anything. The DNA change would work fine, I told myself. I said it to myself a million times, until I believed it.

  


"He's gonna be fine. The DNA change will take affect, and everything will be all right." I said to Kylon. I don't think she heard me.

  


I left them sitting there, together, and went upstairs, to Pby's bedroom. He was sitting on the floor, talking to himself. I went over and sat down next to him.

  


"Everything's gonna be all right, Pby. Kezk is strong, he'll be fine. We'll all be fine."

  


"I hope so.." he murmured. I picked up his hand.

  


"My god, did you see his blood? It was everywhere, all over Kylon. Kylon's gone crazy, if Kezk dies she will too, and what'll happen to the Four? What'll happen to the rebellion? Who will try to protect all the sentient species that can't fight the Irken Armada? Can't you see that all rests on whether Kezk survives or not? We hold the fate of the galaxy, Mui. In these now-human hands, we have the fate of the world. Can't you see that? My god, Mui, if Kezk doesn't survive this, none of us will. And until the universe produces more like us that can fight the Armada, what used to be our race will rule the galaxy. Rule everything. Irkens created spaceships and weaponry that can beat almost anything in existence. We have to survive everything they throw at us, and for as long as we can. And when we can't survive it anymore, then the galaxy will have to wait until more like us come along. Because we're all alone, Mui."

  


"These humans-" I started.

  


"Don't have the weaponry they need to fight off the Irkens, and you know it. The universe is hanging on Kezk. And Mui, we've done all that we can. We've run out of ideas, we've run out of ways to save him. It really does all depend on him, and we're totally helpless. I hate it."

  


"Me too." I held his hand between both of mine.


	6. Doomed

-+Mui+-

  


"He'll be fine," I said again to Pby, then dropped his hand and got up.

  


I walked to the balcony, the edge of the stairs, and looked down at Kezk and Kylon. Kylon was crying, rocking Kezk back and forth, slowly. Kezk was smaller then he was before, the changes must have started to go into affect, and the crimson-red human blood covering both of them was taking a black tint, and Kezk changed from a human to an Irken again.

  


I came down the stairs and sat on the floor, next to where Kylon was holding Kezk. What scared me was that Kylon didn't even notice me. She just kept rocking back and forth, back and forth, her tears melting into a bloody mess in front of her. Kezk's eyes were closed, I think he was unconscious. That might seem stupid, but Kylon was always very alert, and jumped at small noises. Now that sense she had was gone, and replaced by the fear of what could happen, and the mourning for what she could have changed. She thought Kezk didn't have a chance, and I could tell.

  


I sat there and stared into space, trying not to think. My heart was racing, and I think I fell asleep there, leaning against the couch, watching Kezk and Kylon apprehensively.

  


-+Kezk+-

  


I couldn't speak, and I couldn't open my eyes, but I could still feel the pain. My body was changing, I could tell that, going back to being an Irken again. I hoped it worked. I didn't want to die. The Four needed me. I didn't want to die at all, but it seemed like I was going to anyway.

  


If I was going to die, I was going to die with Kylon next to me, I knew that. I could feel her arms holding me, and moving back and forth. There was so much I wanted to say to her, so much I could have told her then. Small things, about the security system, about how to defeat the Irken Armada- at least, they seemed like small things then. And bigger things, or what seemed bigger to me right then, thanking her for helping us through this, for always listening to me. For holding me when she thought I was going to die.

  


But she was wrong, I wasn't going to die. I wouldn't let them take me, I was determined not to let them take me. They wouldn't, they couldn't.. Kylon needed me, and the Four needed me, and I needed them. Dammit, I needed them so much..

  


I could hear Kylon's voice, her whispering. Melodic, sweet. Exactly what I needed to hear right then. The pain was still there, of course, but her words helped drown it out, her voice. I think I smiled.. I couldn't tell if I was moving or not, but I felt happier. I felt like smiling.

  


"Kezk, you'll be fine. You'll be happy and perfect again, I promise, I swear. I swear on everything, Kezk. I won't let you die, Kezk. I love you, I can't let you die."

  


So much to say. I wanted to whisper back, to say that yes, I would be fine, and I loved her too, that we'd all survive the rebellion, that everything, everything would be happy. Not the same, but better. So much better. That we could defeat the Irken Armada, that we'd all survive this, that we were too smart for mercenaries.

  


But if we were too smart for mercenaries, one of them wouldn't have just killed me.

  


But no, he hadn't killed me. I was going to live, I was going to live through this, I was going to be fine.. Kylon wouldn't let me die, I knew that. She wouldn't!

  


I tried to relax, and I could feel her fingers running through my hair, still nervous, and the blood staining my shirt, my arms, mixed with her still dropping tears. She was still there, still watching over me, still willing me to come to life, to wake up and embrace her, to make the Four whole again.

  


And I couldn't. No matter how many times she told me that I'd be all right, I couldn't get back to normal. I was completely Irken again by now, but I didn't have much blood left. I could imagine what the two of us looked like, me laying in her lap, covered in black and red blood, her crying, crying. I didn't want to think about her crying, I didn't want her to be crying. I loved her, I didn't want her grieving. I wanted to come back to life again, to be Kezk again, not the lost Irken soldier, not that member of the Four who Zim managed to kill, not the one that got Zim's honor back for him.

  


I new I had lost too much blood, and as a human, my throat was partly cut, so I couldn't breath right. I could breath now, but not too well. When they changed me back to an Irken, they thought the new DNA might make the cuts go away, but it didn't. At least, that's what I'm guessing.

  


Kylon was shaking, sobbing. Did I really mean anything to them? I guess I did.. My god, I wish that I didn't right then, I wished that I could make them not care, so they didn't get hurt.. the Rebellion needed to continue, if I lived or not.

  


I wanted to tell Kylon that, too.

  


I could feel the blood slowly leaving my body, covering me, covering Kylon. Why couldn't it just stay put? I needed that to survive. I wanted to survive, I wanted to get up just then, to see Kylon's face again, to hear one of Mui's sarcastic comments, to have a conversation with Pby.

  


I can do this, I thought to myself. I can live through this. I can I can I can I can... I opened my eyes, my eyelids feeling like cold, hard stone. Kylon stared at me.

  


"You're alive!" She said, her face lighting up in a grin.

  


"I lost too much blood." My voice was hardly even loud enough to be considered a whisper, but she heard every word.

  


"No, you didn't. You'll be fine."

  


"Kylon, I love you. I'm going to die here, with you. But don't split up the Four, don't halt the rebellion."

  


"Kezk, we need you, can't you understand that?"

  


"The universe needs you not to need me."


	7. Love

-+Kylon+-

  


I really have hardly any idea what happened after the DNA transmission, I only have a few memories of right then.. I couldn't see anything, my eyes were blurred with tears, but I remember Kezk's voice, whispering to me, encouraging me. I could remember his voice, and I could remember the feel of his small Irken body in my arms- how strong my human arms were, and how that way I could hold him. I could remember the unpleasant feeling of his blood covering me, the red, to brick red, mixed with the black of Irken blood.

  


I can remember that with a certain sense of numbness, a certain sense that none of it really mattered, that nothing, really mattered. I tried to think in my mind of why the mission mattered, why we had to break the Irken defenses, but I couldn't think of any good reasons, only, "He's gone, he's gone, I loved him and he's gone..". I tried to convince myself, over and over, that everything mattered, and I needed to continue with the mission, continue with everything, but I couldn't. I couldn't do anything but lay there in bed, my head against the pillow, which was matted with tears, which eventually dried after I ran out of tears to cry.

  


And when I couldn't cry, that was even worse, because everything had a dreadful silence around it, which rang in my ears more loudly then anything ever should. And for a while I sat there, trying to ignore the silence, trying to not make Pby and Mui think I was losing it- but after a while, I gave up- they didn't matter either, did they? Only Kezk mattered, and I realized that too late. Too late, too late, too late.. toolatetoolatetoolate! And when that happened, I screamed.

  


I screamed completely random gibberish in the Irken tongue that I grew up with, and when my voice grew hoarse, I sat down on my bed, fell backwards, and fell asleep, only to go into dreams of Kezk's last words, Kezk's voice echoing in my ears, but he never said anything, I could never catch the words. And in the morning I'd wake up, still hearing his voice.

  


-+Pby+-

  


What were you saying? What did you say? Kezk?

  


Kylon? Kylon, are you alright? I knocked on her door, but she didn't respond. Nothing.

  


I opened the door. I brought you some food, Kylon, you can't just stop eating..

  


Yes, I can. she muttered. Her voice was completely unrecognizable, as was she. Her normally right blue eyes had a dulled, greyish tint, and were bloodshot from crying.

  


"I'll be happy if I starve."

  


"I won't be.. we need you."

  


Her eyes flashed. "We'll never succeed at anything without Kezk... we need him, and now he's gone." She buried her face in her hands.

  


"And the last thing we need is for you to collapse, too." I sat down next to her, putting my hand on her arm. "We'll get over this, we'll get through this, if we only stick together and don't fall. Damn, that sounded corny." For a second, I thought I saw her eyes go back to her previous shining cerulean, but her face fell again all to quickly afterword.

  


"We'll get Zim for this, he'll pay.." I said quietly. "For doing this to you.."

  


"What good will it do, killing more people?" she asked, starting to cry again. "How will it help anything?" A single tear fell down her cheek, and I moved to wipe it away.

  


"I don't understand that.."

  


"And who does? But the only way to stop them from killing every peaceful creature in the universe is to destroy them."

  


"Am I going to have to loose you, too, Pby?"

  


"I hope not, I really hope not.."

  


"And even if I wanted to keep myself from having to go through that.. I couldn't leave, you know, I couldn't stay away."

  


"I know."

  


"Could you?"

  


"I only know one way that I could."

  


"What's that?"

  


"By dying."

  


"Don't, okay?"

  


"I'll try not to."

  


"Is Mui okay?"

  


"I think- I hope so."

  


-+Mui+-

  


It was a rumor, a story I heard in the Lesser Irken Acadamy. But if it was true, Kezk wasn't dead. At least, he wouldn't stay that way, not if I had anything to do with it..

  


The only thing I wanted, at that moment, was help from someone- aside from MUR, that is, there's only so much a SIR unit can do. But the Four- the Three?- was split up. It's not something we desided, it's just something that happened. The only way to get the Four to work again- to get Pby out of his untouchable stupor, or to get Kylon out of her bedroom- the only way to keep the rebellion from failing is to get Kezk back.

  


The only flaw in this plan for how to get this to work again, however, is that Kezk is dead.

  


But, like I said, I might be able to do something about that. Supposedly, Zim had the technology to send objects back in time and replace them with other objects.

  


Knives killed Kezk, or, more specifically, one knife killed Kezk. A rubber piggy, though, would inflict much less damage on him.

  


"MUR, get the current location of Zim's SIR unit. Name: GIR."

  


"Right outside the front door, waiting for an ambush."

  


"Dammit.."

  


"I feel your pain."

  


"Thank you."

  


"MUR, get the current location of Zim's SIR unit. Name: GIR."

  


"Right outside the front door, waiting for an ambush."

  


"Dammit.."

  


"I feel your pain."

  


"Thank you."

  


"Where the hell did I put my laser?" I said to myself. MUR immediatly took one out of her head and handed it to me.

  


"Thank you."

  


"Anytime."

  


"MUR, I'm going to go outside, and I want you to go in front of me, lasers blazing, and stun Zim if he's nearby. Immediatly go for the robot, the idiotic GIR-thing."


	8. Strength

-+Kylon+-

  


"Pby?" I asked quietly.

  


"Hm?"

  


"Can you stay here?"

  


"Sure, but why?"

  


"I'm scared.. no idea of what, but I am. Mostly of myself, probably, that I'll hurt myself or do something stupid, like break the walls down."

  


"Mui would be a lot better at this then I would, but sure."

  


"Why Mui?"

  


"Because.." he raised his head slightly so that his eyes met mine. "Because of this.." His voice trailed off as he pulled his left sleeve up, revealing scars from his wrist all the way down to the middle part of his arm.

  


"Oh god, Pby.."

  


"I know, that's what I thought after I did it."

  


"That's.. Pby, if anything happened to you.. self-inflicted or otherwise.."

  


"I know."

  


"If you knew, why would you do this to yourself?"

  


"I have no idea, Kylon, it seemed like less of a stupid idea at the time." I didn't know how to respond to that, so I just stared into space, not talking.

  


-+Mui+-

  


"MUR!" I cried out, scanning the area for my robot. "MUR!"

  


"Got 'im!"

  


"Did you see Zim?"

  


"Nope."

  


"But you have GIR."

  


"Yes!"

  


"Hurry inside." I waited tensely for a second before my SIR unit bounded into the living room, holding another SIR that looked altogether different then mine, a bit smaller and with strange eyes. I picked it up and carried it downstairs.

  


"Open cage, lock. Standard password."

  


"Password enabled, extra security measures on?"

  


"Don't bother." I sat down. The only thing to do now was to sit and wait for a signal to do something else.

  


-+Pby+-

  


What's Mui doing? Is she doing okay?

  


I don't know.. the truth was, I really DIDN'T know. I wasn't paying much attention to Mui, she was always somewhat untouchable, and I was somewhat caught up in worrying about Kylon- not to mention controlling my own emotions- to notice if she was doing alright. But Mui seemed to always be alright, she never let her emotions get in the way of everything else, unlike the rest of us.

  


I envied Mui right then, when I was sitting there with Kylon, staring into space, trying to ignore the pain that shot through my arm whenever I moved it, trying not to think of how Kylon's eyes had gone so dull. Trying not to think about how I had screwed up and I wasn't the strength of the group now, that that was Mui, and that I had no purpose anymore.. no strength anymore.

  


I had no strength left emotionally for anything, and that seemed to be my only quality before we desided to spark a rebellion. And now we had a huge gap to fill and I was going to be of no help filling it.

  


I stepped out of my trance for a second for no particular reason when I saw that Kylon had fallen asleep. I put her quilt on top of her and headed for my room to attempt to get some rest myself.


	9. Permanency

-+Mui+- 

I had been sitting there for a couple hours, reading reports from the Irken Intranet of "The Four's Traitorships" when I heard the "doorbell" ring, lighting a button on my screen up and beeping. I went upstairs, armed. 

I swiped a hand across the controls that activates a force-field in the front door that made it so no matter can pass through, but sound can, and you can see through the barrier. It was Zim, as I predicted- since the last time I'd seen a picture of him he had grown about half an inch, which is somewhat substantial by Irken standards. 

"You want your robot back." I said as calmly as I could with the stupid human adrenaline making my heart beat incredibly fast and making me want to rip Zim's head off with my bare hands. "Your SIR." 

"And you want to kill me," he responded cooly. 

"That's right!" I said, grinning. "But you can come in and get your robot, if you'll send one of your rubber piggies back in time to replace the knife you threw at Kezk." 

Zim stared at me in disbelief. "Wha.. you want that idiot back in exchange for GIR?" 

"GIR and your life," I said. "But where are my manners? Do come in." 

He took a step inside, and the door immediately slammed itself behind him, and I pointed my primitive human gun at his head. His red eyes widened a bit, before getting squinty and glaring at me. "You'll die for this, traitor." 

"I know damn well I will," I muttered. 

-+Pby+- 

I couldn't sleep. I sat on the end of my bed, feeling like I was about to drop, and stared at the wall, rubbing my left arm mechanically, for no reason other then that it gave me something to do. 

I sat there for what seemed like hours, and I must have dropped off my bed and fallen asleep, because I was curled up in a ball on the floor when I heard voices from downstairs. I immediately thought it was Kylon talking to Mui- I recognized Mui's voice, but the other voice was masculine, and it sounded exactly like the recordings of Zim, the voice with the constant twinge of arrogance that never seemed to leave, like he was in control of everything- which, from the quotes of his that I'd heard, he thought he certainly was. 

I got up, yawning, and went downstairs. 

"BRING ME MY SIR NOW!" I heard Zim's voice scream as I entered the living room. 

"MIR, bring me GIR from downstairs. You know the password." 

"You password protected his cage? That's IT? He probably has escaped by now, GIR has such advanced technology!" 

I smiled to myself as I went in. "Need a hand, Mui?" 

"Kezk! I thought you were dead!" Zim said, waving a finger at me. 

"Kezk IS dead, that's PBY, you idiot," Mui said, lowering her voice threateningly. "But Kezk isn't going to stay dead for long, not if you want to get out of here alive, and with your stupid robot too." 

"He's not stupid- he's advanced!" Zim said, completely oblivious to the screaming of "WEEHEEHEEHEE! I get to see Master again, I get too see Master again! Hooray for Earth! I think I'll make him pancakes.." coming from the kitchen. 

"This thing is an insult to real SIR units everywhere, Mui. Oh, hi Pby! Nice to see you walking around again. Can I break GIR now?" MIR said, dragging GIR (who was still ranting and rambling about pancakes) along by his leg. 

"Okay, Zim. You see your robot, now use your space-time thing." Mui glared coldly at Zim, who returned her gaze. 

"You're using my old base, aren't you?" 

"Yes, all the silly equipment from the basement is still there." 

"Take me down there, then, and I'll get your damned Kezk back." 

"Thank you," I said, grinning at Mui. Zim walked into the kitchen, or what he thought was the kitchen, and was now a bathroom. To our surprise, he jumped into the toilet and tried to flush himself down it, getting water on his skin and immediately jumping out, rolling on the ground. 

"Um, the elevator to get downstairs is over there, Zim," I said, pointing to the downstairs elevator shaft. Mui walked toward it, motioning to Zim to follow. "Pby, go get Kylon, we might need help with this, I don't know." 


	10. Irken

-+Kylon+- 

"Okay, quick recap. Zim is here, we're holding his SIR unit hostage, he's going to send an object back in time to replace the knife he killed Kezk with, and bring Kezk back." Pby said, leading me quickly downstairs. "It was, of course, all Mui's idea," he added, his voice showing a slight bit of what the humans called resentment- or jealousy. I couldn't tell which one. 

I blinked, stupefied, and stood there for about five seconds before he grabbed my arm and pulled me downstairs. Mui was waiting, sitting next to the control panel, pressing buttons according to orders coming from Zim, who was completely concentrated on his work. Her human eyes had the maniac black glint in them that she always had as an Irken again- thinking to myself, I realized that I had almost forgotten that that was how she was always distinguished from other Irkens. She nodded quickly at Kezk and me and then went back to pulling levers and typing. 

"Okay, it's set up.. one more thing we need, the thing that'll replace the knife. I don't think we have any rubber piggies, Zim," Mui said offhandedly, spinning her chair around to talk to Zim. 

"Anything small and lightweight should work," Zim said in a resigned, stale voice. 

"My moose!" Gir yelled from his cage in the corner. He took his plush moose from inside of his head, squeezed it fondly, and threw it to Zim. "It's a small lighty objecty, mas-teeeerrr!" 

Mui grinned at me, Zim rolled his eyes, putting the moose inside of a small hole in the device that he and Mui assembled. The device lit up, beeping. 

"Transport device enable NOW." Mui said to the computer. 

"Transport device enabled." 

-+Mui+- 

I typed the string of commands to transport the.. moose to exactly the right time and replacing the knife. I pressed the button that submitted the commands to the computer, which lit up. I turned around in my chair again, to see Pby, his eyes darting around the room at everything that moved. Kylon's eyes had turned from the dull grey they had earlier that week to bright blue, and oddly, they had the same predatory glint that all Irken eyes seemed to have. 

We sat there for what seemed like forever, doing that, looking at each other oddly, impatiently- when we heard a noise from behind the door, and the door opened. 

Kezk appeared in the doorway, looking around at us with his bright eyes glinting happilly. Kylon immediately ran up to him, throwing her arms around his neck. 

-+Kylon+- 

"My god, how much I've missed you.. I love you, Kezk.." I said quietly. 

"I love you too," Kezk murmered back to me. 

"Cute. Rather corny, but cute." Pby said, grinning at us. I let my hands drop from his neck and he moved on to hugging Mui and Pby in turn. 

"Well, I guess we don't have to worry about him not having both memories, he doesn't seem absolutely confused as to what in hell is going on," Mui commented. 

"Why are you doing that?" Zim asked me. 

"Doing what?" 

"All of you, why do you do this.. this hugging and such? What benefit do you get out of it?" 

"It makes our emotions better, it makes us happier." 

"Happier? Power makes you happy, praise makes you happy. You do not know happiness," Zim spat. 

"And you, Invader Zim, do not know friendship, you do not know loyalty, and worst of all, you do not know love." 

"And if I wanted to learn of this- this love you speak of, this friendship and loyalty, what would I do?" 

"You would simply tell me and I could get you the power to know all of that." 

"..What would you do, inject me with something that makes it so my brain can sense all that?" 

"Basically, yes. There's two ways, one is that- changing the structure of your brain, only slightly, of course, so that you have the human emotion." 

"And the other is?" 

"Turning you into a human." 

"Which would you suggest?" 

"Are you serious about this?" 

"Yes, I am.." 

"Okay, do you want to join us? It could bring more respect, more honor than being even one of the Tallests. Because the Tallests will be overthrown, and we will be the new rulers of the Irken Empire!" 

"Join you? And become one of the enemies of the Tallests? I would never do that, Kylon. Never." 

"Then you would want to stay an Irken, with the modified DNA that we four were born- or, more accurately, created- with." 

"I'll do it." 


End file.
